Book Synopsis:
Sylvia lives in a flat on a council estate with her not-quite-husband Obe and their two young children. She dreams of buying a house on a leafy street like the one she grew up in. If she closes her eyes, she can see it all so clearly: the stripped floorboards, the wisteria growing around the door…
It’s not ideal that she’s about to be made redundant, or that Obe, a playworker, is never going to earn more than the minimum wage. As sleep deprivation sets in, and the RnB downstairs gets ever louder, Sylvia’s life starts to unravel.
But when the estate is earmarked for redevelopment, the threat to her community gives Sylvia a renewed sense of purpose. With a bit of help from her activist sister, and her film-maker friend Frankie, she’s ready to take a stand for what she believes in.
Warm, witty and brilliantly observed, On the Up is about relationships and community, finding a way through the tough times, and figuring out what’s really worth fighting for.
On The Up is available in ebook now. You can purchase your copy using the link below.
My Review:
On The Up is a fantastic, uplifting read with some memorable characters . It’s a very realistic read which shows the realities of modern life.
I loved the two main characters Obe and Sylvia who I though were very well drawn and developed. It was hard to decide whose side I was on sometimes as I felt each of them had a point. Sylvia is a character I think most mum’s would relate to as the grind of being with children all day can definitely get you down. Yes you do love them but it is quite hard being with them all day everyday. You feel like you lose part of yourself sometimes so I really felt for her and the situation she finds herself in. Obe is a very happy go lucky person whose view on life made me smile. He’s obviously a very loving dad who loves his family but I did wonder if he’d become annoying in real life as there were moments where I think I’d have happily have hit him myself! Bill, the Anti Social Behaviour Officer, was a wonderful secondary character and I loved his interactions with Sylvia. It was nice to see the two grow closer and I loved how he had time to listen to her and help her with her problems, something that sadly seems to be missing in modern life.
I’ve got a secret desire to live in London so I loved the wonderful descriptions of a multi-cultural, bustling Hackney or the ‘Hackney Riviera’ as Obe calls it. The sense of community that Sylvia experiences when they are fighting for their homes was wonderful to read about and made me smile. I hope this is true in real life to as it would be brilliant if it was.
Overall I thought this was an absorbing, warm and uplifting book which I really enjoyed reading. It’s a book about family, community and life which I think most people can relate to. I loved following the characters and their story throughout this book and felt quite sad when the book finished and I had to leave them behind. This is the author’s debut novel and I’m very excited to read more from her in the future.
Huge thanks to Jenny Platt from Hodder and Stoughton for my copy of this book and for inviting me onto the blog tour.
About The Author:
Alice O’Keeffe is a freelance writer and journalist. She was deputy editor of the Guardian’s Saturday Review section, and writes book reviews, interviews and features for the Guardian, Observer and New Statesman. She has been a speechwriter at the Department for Education and literary programmer at the Brighton Festival.
Alice lives in Brighton with her husband and two children.
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